CKR FM are denying that their future is hanging in the balance. The station's chief executive has instead insisted that CKR FM is in "great health". Earlier in the year it emerged that CKR Limited had been struck off the Compamies Register after failing to file accounts. This led to Carlow Kildare Radio Limited being dissolved on the 16th of June.
Comment: Talk about bad timing with the station's licence due for renewal shortly!
Cross Rhythms is now being relayed on 1593kHz on medium wave which was the frequency ABC in Dublin had planned to use. The signal is strongest in Northern areas of the country and the stations' Christian music programming has also been heard on this frequency in North-West England and Scotland. Cross Rhythms is part of the UCB (United Christian Broadcasting) stable and they have a website which you can visit at www.crossrhythms.co.uk
Comment: Plans for an Irish am music service on 1593 now on hold due to divine intervention!.
UCB can be heard in Dublin once again. Their Christian broadcasts are being relayed on 549kHz on the medium wave band.
Comment: Presumably the ODTR would pray for forgiveness after a raid?
Passion FM are inviting their listeners to join them for an on-air party in their studios in Bray for the station's final hour of broadcast between six and seven pm tomorrow evening. Passion FM can be found on 103.7MHz in Dublin and 105.2MHz in Wicklow.
Comment: The final hour of Passion FM will also be archived on Radiowaves from tomorrow night.
87.6MHz in Dublin was silent for much of this afternoon while work was carried out on their UHF link. The frequency came alive again to test transmissions from approx 4pm (playing some very interesting jingle-package documentaries) and from about 4.45pm the tests cut to continuous music with no id's. ABC 94FM is scheduled to reappear on this frequency later this evening for a limited period but there are plans for a new service sometime in the future.
Comment: Confused?
DMR FM, who have been having link problems after the lovely Irish summer weather of a week ago knocked them off, hope to be back broadcasting on 93.2MHz to Dublin sometime in midweek.
Passion FM closed at 7pm this evening after a year of live broadcasting to Dublin and Wicklow. A crowd of listeners, along with presenters from other stations, gathered at the station's studio in Bray for the final hour to bid farewell. Listen to a real audio stream of Passion's final hour from their 103.7MHz transmitter by clicking here. Passion FM's closedown this evening.
Comment: Silence is not always golden.
Energy 106.6's website has been closed because of a dispute over payments.
Report: Miles J.
2FM is being relayed on 6220kHz on the shortwave band (monitored with a very good signal in Scotland). This frequency has most recently been used by Laser Hot Hits.
Report: Alex Jenkins
Hits 106 start a new Autumn schedule from today. Highlights include Dave Harrington returning to a Saturday night slot and also Dar B who is back with Clubzone which will air four nights a week. The full schedule can be found on the station website. Hits 106 broadcast on 106.1MHz in Dublin and 107.1MHz in Wicklow.
Radio Caroline Dublin moved from 102.6MHz back to 102.5MHz at 7.15pm this evening to avoid interference from Raidió na Gaeltachta's 102.7MHz Claremont Carn transmissions.
Today FM introduced a 'new face on the radio' today in the form of Ray D'Arcy (but no Zig and Zag!) presenting the first of his daily shows at 10pm. A slight reshuffle sees Tim Kelly moved to the afternoon slot while Philip Cawley is on holidays, and with Ian Dempsey back from his latest vacation, Today FM are hoping that the new look schedule will grab them a further increase in audience share on the back of the recent JNLR figures.
ABC 94FM's 87.6MHz transmitter received a much-needed boost in power today resulting in a noticeably improved signal in many areas.
Magic 105FM are working on plans to introduce online requests with a new interactive twist through their website. They are hoping to have this facility within the next few weeks. Magic 105 broadcast from Co Monaghan into Northern Ireland on 105.1FM and 105.8FM.
Live 95FM, Limerick's licensed service, caused chaos in the city yesterday when it gave away a prize of £10,000 in a competition they called "Four Play". The prize was awarded for catching a particular four songs in a row and callers jammed all the telephone exchanges in an effort to win a choice of a trip around the world, a new car, a pot-bellied pig or the cash.
Comment: With CKR FM running a similar competition for it's upcoming 11th birthday celebrations it's not a bad time to point out that Chris Cary was first in Ireland with this idea too - nearly 20 years ago!
Capital Gold, the classic hits station from London, was relayed overnight on FM in Dublin through the transmitters of ABC 94FM. Relays started late last night and continued through until lunchtime today when a continuous compilation of unidentified music was broadcast for about an hour before the relay resumed - this time from Classic Gold which aired for the afternoon. From 5pm transmissions returned to continuous looping music with neither idents or RDS. These lasted through to the early hours before a relay of Classic Gold resumed. Relays went out on both 94.3MHz and 87.6MHz.
Comment: Someone's got their Sky Digital installed!
DMR FM has returned to 93.2MHz in Dublin with a weak signal following recent problems which have kept them off-air for nearly two weeks. Station launch plans have been put back until Christmas.
Radio Free London plan to be on air for 24 hours a day from this coming Sunday for a full week. The station can be found on shortwave frequency 5805kHz.
Hospital Radio Chelmsford presenter Greg Daines is attempting the world record for longest continuous radio broadcast which currently stands at 72 hours. The programme started at 7am this morning and Greg needs to be still doing his thing at 7am on Saturday to equal the record. Updates and webcam pictures are available at HRC's website.
Quayside 105 in Waterford are off air following a visit today from the ODTR who were in the area investigating interference to Garda frequencies. No equipment was taken.
ABC Power 104FM - who are based in Waterford - received a visit today from the ODTR following their raid on Quayside 105. The dj on air shut off the power and kept the door locked when the two men from the ODTR arrived. The presenter then rang for help - standard station procedure for ABC. A stand-off ensued and the two ODTR representatives were refused entry to the premises. After receiving a phone-call they left.
Comment: Best wishes to all at ABC in Waterford.
Kiss FM, Cork's dance music station, are off air as a precaution following a warning that the ODTR may be heading their way.
Cork station Radio Friendly went off air tonight presumably to avoid an ODTR raid. Radiowaves has also received unconfirmed reports that Cork's other unlicensed stations are also off air as a precaution against ODTR visits.
Comment: ODTR Round-country tour Summer 2000.
ABC Power 104FM plan to return to the airwaves at the weekend after they have reinstalled their transmitters and done some tests. ABC broadcast to the South-East of the country on 104.1MHz.
Comment: Best of luck!
Kiss FM in Cork came back on air this afternoon with normal programming and RDS following yesterday's decision to stop broadcasting to avoid an ODTR visit. Kiss FM broadcast to Cork on 105.5MHz and 107.1 to S Tipperary.
Comment Welcome back.
Planet Rock is today's Sky Digital selection on 94.3FM and 87.6FM in Dublin. Classic Gold was relayed for most of yesterday until a return to the unidentified music mix last night.
Comment: Maybe they're taking station requests?
Sun FM is how the non-stop eighties music station on 101.3MHz in Dublin is now identifying itself. Previous name was C101.3.
Comment: Looking to tan the opposition?!
Mad Radio, who are presently off-air awaiting the arrival of a new compressor and PLL transmitter, will further delay their return until the present situation pans out. A representative of Mad Radio told Radiowaves that there were enough problems at the moment without a power struggle on 93.2MHz giving the ODTR an excuse to raid either station. He also promised that the station would be back on 93.2MHz as soon as possible.
Gold FM test jingles were aired on 94.3MHz and 87.6MHz in the early hours of this morning. The jingles were new and mentioned a 24 hour a day service rather than the "Gold FM at the weekend" promos of the past. There were also test jingles aired for a service by the name of Hope FM for Dublin. ABC are staying tight-lipped about future plans for their frequencies although a spokesperson told Radiowaves that Beat FM will not be returning. When the jingle package played out the frequencies shifted to a Sky Digital relay of Heart 106.2 from London. This finished at lunchtime and Beat FM jingles and programming reappeared on both frequencies for a while before a return to unidentified music.
Comment: Tests or just total confusion?
Magic 105FM's interactive service is now testing and they hope to introduce it on air very shortly.
Comment: Should be fun!
BBC Five Live have stopped broadcasting in analogue via the Astra satellite at 19.2E due to broadcasting rights restrictions. The cable service from ntl has also been affected but a company representative (who needed to be informed that Five Live was a radio - not a tv - channel and that it was carried on their service) has said that they hope to restore the channel soon. Five Live is encrypted on Sky Digital but can be received on 990kHz, 909kHz and 693kHz on medium wave in many parts of Ireland.
GAA FM broadcast their inaugural transmission on 106.8MHz in Dublin today from 12 noon. Programming lasted for five and a half hours and included RTE's commentary on The All-Ireland Hurling Final and other post-match programming. The station was also available worldwide from both Setanta's and the G.A.A.'s websites.
Details of Magic 105's new interactive services - entitled Magic 'I' - are now being released by the station and they hope to have it running by next week. Online requests will be one feature whereby a user will be able to pick a song from a large database and schedule it to play at a specified point in the future. This feature will also be available via WAP phone technology. Recorded messages for airplay similar to a service already offered by TalkSport are also planned and the station hope to make use of their moving RDS by showing scrolling request details. It will also be possible for presenters from anywhere worldwide to make their own shows for airplay using the service. The Magic 'I' will be available in off-peak hours only.
Comment: Innovative and exciting plans. Not just music!
Presenter Greg Daines beat the record for longest continuous radio broadcast on Saturday. The previous record was 72 hours which Greg managed to beat by 1 hour and 33 minutes. When the show was finished Greg slept for 22 hours non-stop! Full details with plenty of pictures will be available on their website by the end of the week.
Comment: Just as well there were hospital beds close by when he finished. Congratulations!
Capitol Gold is today's Sky Digital selection on 94.3MHz and 87.6MHz which was interrupted for an hour by the now customary lunchtime return to the unidentified music mix.
Comment: Anything is better than the previous relays of Classic Gold with their selection of aging dj's who were out of fashion before they were even born!
ABC Power's 104.5 transmitter returned to air today. This follows the return of the main 104.1 transmissions on Saturday afternoon. ABC Power 104 are based in Waterford.
DMR FM are working on a new jingle package which they hope to air by the start of next month. DMR FM broadcast to Dublin on 93.2MHz.
Comment: Thanks from RadiowavesFM for the promotion.
The Irish Mix have been off air for the past couple of days with equipment problems and hope to return sometime this evening. They broadcast on 90.3MHz on your Dublin dial.
Those with their receivers tuned to 87.6 and 94.3FM in Dublin today are being treated to a relay of The Mix through Sky Digital.
Radio Caroline Dublin have again been requested to stop broadcasting by the ODTR because of interference to neighbouring frequencies. An accidental loss of power to the station's UHF link this morning caused problems, particularly to Lite FM on 102.2MHz. A spokesperson for the station this evening told Radiowaves that it was "back to the drawing board" once again but they plan to be back broadcasting as soon as possible.
Chris Cary has been moved from his hospital bed on the Isle of Wight to Parkhurst prison on the island. In an update to the Chris Cary website this week, Sybil Fennell says that Chris is still not very well but he can walk again with the aid of a walking stick and has no use of his left hand. Chris is best known in Ireland for setting up Radio Nova in the early eighties.
Comment: Returning the man to prison seems very harsh...
Gold FM is set to broadcast full-time on 87.6MHz. The station has a new logo and it's own web-page in development where there is an announcement that it will be starting soon.
Comment: Now that 87.6MHz is receivable over much of the city, Gold FM's oldies mix should prove popular.
ABC 94FM, who will be five years old on Monday week, have launched a revamped website and a new-look logo. On the website there are hints that future plans for the station will be announced soon.
Comment: Some interesting developments from the ABC stable.
Gold FM has reappeared today on both 87.6MHz and 94.3MHz. Jingles for "Gold FM at the weekend" are airing and not the 24 hours a day versions that were recently heard testing.
ABC 94FM returned to the airwaves this evening on both 94.3MHz and 87.6MHz but without RDS at present. This replaces Gold FM which occupied the frequencies over the weekend. Problems with links to the mountain transmitters have dogged both stations in recent times but a new link has shown no sign of trouble and Gold FM - featuring music of the 50s, 60s and 70s - will take up full-time residence on 87.6FM as soon as a second arrives. A spokesperson this evening told Radiowaves, "...despite all the technical problems we are working hard behind the scenes to improve things and are grateful to all for their patience". Plans for an am service have been put on hold.
Comment: ABC's fifth birthday programming plans are in progress.
Sun FM, who play non-stop eighties music on 101.3MHz in Dublin, were off air most of the weekend.
Comment: PC problems at a guess!
ntl are now admitting that they might have problems carrying Five Live in the future as a result of sports broadcasting rights restrictions which prevent the station broadcasting outside the UK. Five Live has been removed from analogue satellite and, as a consequence, from ntl. The station is encrypted on the Sky Digital platform and available to UK listeners only. Listeners in Ireland can now only tune in on medium wave.
Comment: Although ntl are not at fault it might be worth letting them know that you want Five Live as part of your cable service. Customer service: 1800 123123 or fill in the customer care form on their website.
Ireland could be home to Europe's first gay radio station next year. Australian businessman Dr Austen James wants the station to be run entirely by gays but will settle for "people who live on the edge" if equality laws don't permit it. The station hopes to beam it's signal across Europe and plans are subject to the station receiving a licence.
The IRTC has advertised for applications from parties interested in serving Cork city and county with an FM radio station. This time there is no specifications for the type of service required but the IRTC has indicated that they wish to increase the choices on offer to listeners. Closing date for applications is 10th November.
Phantom FM have suffered equipment problems which resulted in the station needing to keep their audio levels very low last night through this morning. It is possible that yesterday evening's heavy downpour affected machinery on their mountain site. Normal service resumed this afternoon following engineer work. Phantom FM broadcast to Dublin on 91.6MHz.
Virgin Radio in the UK are now the most listened to station on the internet. Arbitron today released findings for the month of July which, according to "Aggregate Tuning Hours", places Virgin Radio in top place - a jump of one place from previously published figures.
ESG FM's station manager James Davids has this evening issued a statement stating that ESG is "NOT closing under any circumstances" and that a relaunch with big changes is on the way. He also asks for supporters to "take no note of any of the rumours". ESG FM had been planning a move from their temporary premises of the past few weeks into a new studio and this may explain why they have had neither live programming nor RDS for the past few days.
Red Dragon FM in Cardiff is having complaints against them investigated after their drive-time presenters yesterday mentioned rumours on-air that further blockades of oil refineries were imminent. This led to panic petrol buying in Wales leading to chaos on the roads and the rumour spread first to South-West England and then throughout the UK.
Freedom 92FM in Dublin were off the air for most of today due to transmitter problems which were resolved in the evening. The station will also be off air at some point this coming weekend for the installation of new aerials. Freedom FM can be found on 92.0MHz.
Dublin's FM104 are shortly to introduce their own version of the hit UK television show 'Big Brother'. Details to be released soon. FM104 are tunable at 104.4MHz in Dublin city and county.
Comment: And you thought it was all over...
The Radio Authority in the UK have stated that they do not believe that Red Dragon FM were guilty of scaremongering when mentioning rumours of more oil refinery blockades which caused chaos around the UK earlier in the week.
Chris Cary is still rehabilitating slowly from his stroke according to chriscary.com. The second update to the website this week comes in the form of a job application which mentions that Chris will be released in March next year and wants to return to broadcasting - his major passion in life. In the update Sybil Fennell says that "...radio has always been his first love and I can think of no better way to help him to readjust to life than to encourage him to immerse himself in something that comes naturally to him." Suggestions and work offers are welcomed at sybil@chriscary.com. The earlier update this week was a thank you to all those who had sent messages of support.
Comment: What better way for Mr Cary to rehabilitate himself. Again...get well asap.
James Stafford, the former director of Century Radio has been accused of lying to the Flood Tribunal. Denying the allegation, Mr Stafford claimed that comments he made during a private interview were misinterpreted. The tribunal heard that Mr Stafford said that he first heard about the now infamous payment to Ray Burke when he read about it in press reports earlier this year but later said in evidence that he had heard about it back in 1991. At that point, Oliver Barry claimed that he was owed money for the payment he made to Ray Burke. James Stafford said that was the first time he heard about it. However, tribunal lawyers have uncovered documents which reveal that Oliver Barry was refunded the payment after the London based Capital Radio took a stake in the station, and that James Stafford helped him to do this.
Details of ABC 94FM's fifth birthday programme have been finalised. It will begin at 8pm on Monday and "is an excuse for an anorak session", presenter Mike Williams told Radiowaves! There will be recordings of the station from the past featuring various dj's and there will also be airings of many old jingles and idents. Special guests have also been lined up to take part. ABC 94FM presently broadcast to Dublin on 94.3MHz and 87.6MHz.
Comment: Here's hoping the station's sixth year features less of the technical problems which affected the fifth. Happy birthday!
UCB's relay on 549kHz went off air last night at 11pm. This was caused by a melt-down in the 3 phase supply causing a power blackout on site. It may take several days before broadcasting can recommence.
Audio problems affected 98FM transmissions this evening resulting in silence on their 98.1MHz frequency for periods.
A continuous music station playing mainly Country & Irish - but with other genres receiving airplay - has appeared on 103.7MHz in Dublin and surrounding areas using the RDS COUNTRY. (including the full-stop at the end!). The station is strongest in the west with reasonable quality in the city-centre. This is in addition to the blank carrier which is also being received on 103.7MHz in certain areas.
Report: Simon Maher.
Comment: It can safely be assumed that this is not Spin testing!!
Supreme FM, the dance station who were based in Lucan and broadcast locally on 107.7MHz, have decided to call it a day until sometime next year.
Source: Anorak Hour update.
Dublin's Kiss FM were running a continuous loop of all their jingles this morning but went live again this afternoon. The station can be found on 105.8MHz.
GAA FM failed to appear in Dublin during today's All Ireland Final despite the presence of it's blank carrier on 106.8MHz. There was also no sign of GAA FM's webstream.
A rolling 24-hour Dublin news radio station will start broadcasting on the internet from the beginning of October. The service will be provided by Flycatcher.ie who are a sister-company of FM104 and those behind the dance internet station Wod1.com. Staff will consist of the existing FM104 news team plus some new recruits.
Report: Brian Greene.
City Beat - based in Belfast - have announced that John Rosborough is to become their new station director. John is at present Head of Programming at Downtown/Cool FM and will join City Beat on October 9th. The station broadcast on 96.7MHz.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the UK government can continue with its restrictive policy of refusing to allow independent stations on short wave despite allowing independent operators on the FM and medium wave bands, but this now raises the separate question of whether the short wave monopoly is legal under European Union competition law. Trevor Brook took his case to the courts in 1997 after numerous requests to the government to license his proposed service "Radiofax".
Source: ukradio.com
Dublin's ABC 94FM were off air for a period this morning due to a power cut at their transmitter site. The station are now back broadcasting on both their 94.3MHz and 87.6MHz frequencies.
Phantom FM's automated service was down this morning with suspected pc problems. The service has now been restored. Phantom FM broadcast to Dublin on 91.6MHz.
A blank carrier with no station id has been heard on the controversial 101.8MHz frequency in Dublin which was once occupied by Xtreme FM and, more recently, Mad Radio. Neither station lasted long on the frequency because of interference to the licensed North-East Dublin service NEAR FM on 101.6FM although Xtreme FM attempted to use it a second time. No such thoughts occupy the minds of anyone at Mad Radio who this evening confirmed that the carrier had nothing to do with them.
Report: Michael Masterson
Comment: 101.8..."COUNTRY." on 103.7...there may be a lack of space on the band but broadcasting on these frequencies is begging for trouble.
Jazz FM in Dublin were off air overnight because of a problem with their main transmitter. They returned to the airwaves on their 89.8FM frequency at 6.30 this evening.
The Irish-based relay of UCB returned yesterday with better coverage achieved due to modulation level increase. The relay can be found on 549kHz and is operated by Irish Christian Broadcasters (ICB) Dundalk.
ESG FM's service was down for most of today but returned in the evening. The station broadcast to Dublin on 94.1FM and 93.8FM.
Energy 106FM is running on reduced power as a result of a power failure.
Report: Miles J.
An unidentified transmission playing continuous country and Irish music has been heard on 107.1 MHz with a good signal in County Meath.
Report: Seán Brady.
Atlantic 252 are about to launch a new £1m promotional campaign aimed at their 15-24 year old target audience. Entitled "Dance Your Tits Off", the campaign will feature naked male model torsos with plasters over their nipples in an attempt to encourage more interest from dance music followers. Atlantic 252 broadcast to Ireland and the UK on the long wave band.
ESG FM's station manager James Davids this morning said that the station's relaunch is due in about a week's time and that he can say no more.
Freedom 92FM were off air for a short period this evening as work continues on their broadcast equipment. The station broadcast to Dublin on 92.0MHz.
NEAR FM - North-East Dublin's community access service - had some technical problems today which disrupted broadcasts. NEAR FM can be heard across much of the city on 101.6FM.